Houston dad has a big problem with Victoria’s Secret

Houston Belief blogger Evan Dolive has had an open letter he wrote to Victoria’s Secret on behalf of his 3-year-old daughter go viral, receiving more than 10,000 page views on Facebook and over 2,800 comments.

In the letter he rails against their latest campaign effort called “Bright Young Things” which includes underwear with things like “dare you,” feeling lucky” and “call me” written on them. He theorizes what his daughter will be like in 10 years and how these kinds of ads will affect her:

As a dad, this makes me sick.

I believe that this sends the wrong message to not only my daughter but to all young girls.
I don’t want my daughter to ever think that her self-worth and acceptance by others is based on the choice of her undergarments. I don’t want my daughter to ever think that to be popular or even attractive she has to have emblazon words on her bottom.

I want my daughter (and every girl) to be faced with tough decisions in her formative years of adolescence. Decisions like should I be a doctor or a lawyer? Should I take calculus as a junior or a senior? Do I want to go to Texas A&M or University of Texas or some Ivy League School? Should I raise awareness for slave trafficking or lack of water in developing nations? There are many, many more questions that all young women should be asking themselves… not will a boy (or girl) like me if I wear a “call me” thong?

A Facebook page was started to tell Victoria’s Secret to stop marketing to young girls and a change.org petition was started asking them to pull the “Bright Young Things” campaign.

For its part, Victoria’s Secret has responded to the ad on Facebook clarifying that the marketing is directed to college-age spring breakers, not young teens.

Victoria’s Secret PINK is a brand for college-aged women. Despite recent rumors, we have no plans to introduce a collection for younger women. “Bright Young Things” was a slogan used in conjunction with the college spring break tradition.

As the mother of a girl I can’t help but empathize with Dolive. When my daughter was his daughter’s age the problem was shoes. I struggled to find shoes without at least a little heel. They almost don’t exist.

Now my daughter is a young teen and we struggle to find age-appropriate undergarments in her size. Girls find out all too soon that as soon as they grow the body parts the marketing to start sexualizing those body parts heats up. And most frustratingly, there is almost no alternative. Have you shopped for a bra for a girl with an A, B or even C cup size lately? They are all padded and pushup. The ones that aren’t are few and far between. I’m still looking. Parents, your opinions in the comments below: